“I’m losing them, Rose,” Dave said, his voice hoarse; whether from sobs or suppressed tears she couldn’t tell. “My children. They’re slipping through my fingers like this.” He picked up a handful of crumbled leaves and they fell to the floor as he spread his fingers. “And there’s nothing I can do.”
“Oh, Dave,” she said.
“First it’s Tanya and Sam. Then Paul gets sick and now… Stuart wants to ask Lucy if she wants him to adopt her,” he said. He looked at her searchingly, his lips pressed into a thin line. He was nearly choking on the words that needed out next. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?” she asked.
“That you suggested to Lucy that she go live with the Quinlans for a while?” His question came out in a dangerously measured tone.
Rose’s heart began to thump hard against her chest. Would she lose him if she told him the truth ? But if making him think that Stuart had lied would be worse, and certainly wouldn’t help matters. Stuart had no reason to lie about this. He had made it quite clear that Lucy talked a lot about her. “Yes.”
Dave withdrew, hugging his knees to his chest. His mouth was still a tense line and he suppressed a sob which made his whole body shake.
“When I gave Lucy that piece of advice I hadn’t realised that she was your Lucy,” she said with a sigh. “I suppose she turned to me for advice because I was an outsider.”
Dave looked at her, and the fire in his eyes nearly burned her. She almost shrank back.
“She trusted me to be objective. I could feel how torn she was. She needs to find out who she is. She was always Rita’s daughter. And now that Rita is gone…”
“I didn’t want to find Stuart, but I couldn’t lie to her. I love her, Rose. I love her as if she were my own.” The trembling had moved to his voice.
“I know, Dave. I saw,” she said. “And I also saw that she feels the same for you. All of you, no matter how nasty Ewan has been to her. I don’t think you’re going to lose her.”
His lips relaxed and he drew in a shuddering breath. “You…”
“I suggested living with the Quinlans for a while so she could make an educated decision.”
Dave ran his fingers through his hair. She took his hand and wove her fingers through his.
“Adoption is a lengthy procedure, and by the time it goes through, Lucy will be old enough to make a decision,” Dave said. “At least he had the decency to tell me that.”
“I think that Stuart is a decent man. He offered help with the compensation, didn’t he?” Rose said, knowing that she was entering dangerous territory by playing devil’s advocate. “Don’t forget, Dave, that he is her father. Rita made decisions for all three of them. All he wants is to get to know his first daughter. We should really leave it up to Lucy.”
“I don’t like that one bit. I won’t stand a chance in court if I challenge him. He’s the birth father. I’m only the bloke who brought her up.”
“Exactly! You’re the man who helped shape her into the young woman she is now,” Rose argued. “She might not carry your genes, but you’ve passed ideas, knowledge and values on to her. You’ve given her your love and attention. She’s a very lucky girl.”
He smiled wanly.
“Trust her to make the right decision,” Rose said. She withdrew her fingers and cupped his face with both her hands. “You’re a great Dad, Dave.”
When he laughed, it was a spluttered sound, and his tears spilled over. Rose knew then that he hadn’t cried before. She drew him into her arms. “I love you, Dave. I’m so sorry for causing you so much distress.”
“You didn’t know,” he managed to say. “I’m so glad I have you. I love you so much, Rose.”
When they kissed, it was wetter than usual as tears and snot mingled with saliva.
-:-
“You’ve seen the aliens?” Ewan asked, his food forgotten.
Rose had made schnitzel and potato salad with a recipe she’d brought back from an extended stay in Germany. Lottie had helped a little and shown Rose some tricks that weren’t mentioned in the cook book she’d picked up.
Lucy smiled. “Briefly. They looked human.”
“Oh.” Ewan sounded disappointed.
“That’s because they’re wearing a Shimmer,” Mickey explained. “A small device that makes them look human so we aren’t scared.”
“What do they look like when they’re at home?” Lucy wanted to know.
“Like Smurfs. Minus the hat and trousers, but with two sets of arms,” Mickey said.
“Wow!” Ewan stared.
Dave watched his children interact with the Torchwood staff. Paul was there as well. He was in a wheelchair, and since he had responded well to the drip he had been taken off it. The cannula was still in place, though, just in case. They had told this children that Paul was a bit weak still and that it was clinic regulations that had him in the wheelchair to cover the fact that he had lost the use of his legs.
Sitting with Rose in the cloister chamber seemed so long ago, and when he caught Lucy’s eye he beamed at her, wanting her to know that he was very happy to have her back.
“And they’re coming all that way just because of me?” Paul asked softly. Everyone went silent at his words.
“Yes, sweetheart,” Rose said. “They are. But we’d do the same if necessary.”
“Couldn’t they just… email the recipe for the cure?” he asked.
“No, they’ll have to see you. But don’t worry, they’ll wear their Shimmer.”
“Will they take it off? If I asked nicely?” Ewan wanted to know.
“They might,” Mickey replied with a wink.
Sarah left after dinner and they all gathered to play games together before Dominic announced it was time for bed for the wee ones. He took Paul down to his room, all of his siblings in tow — they wanted to make sure that their brother was all right by himself. “I’ll stay with you tonight,” Lucy announced, and no matter what Dominic said he was unable to convince her to sleep in one of the guest rooms and leave the night watch to him and Frankie. Dave stayed with them for a while before he joined Rose in the guest suite’s lounge. It was Lottie’s night off, and she had put Ewan and Evie to bed without any fuss.
“How did you do that?”
“They were asleep on their feet,” Rose laughed as he sat on the sofa beside her. “As is their gorgeous Dad.”
“I’m exhausted, but I don’t think I’d be able to sleep if I went to bed. Besides, it’s occupied already.”
“Sorry,” Rose said. She’d been unable to convince Evie and Ewan to sleep in their own beds.
“Don’t worry,” Dave said. “I don’t think I’ll get much sleep tonight.”
“Oh?”
He chuckled. “I can’t possibly allow Lucy to sit by Paul’s bed all night.”
“No.”
“Would you hold me?” he asked.
“Course I will,” Rose said, and they shifted to accommodate each other’s limbs and bodies on the sofa. Dave ended up lying between Rose’s legs, his head cushioned on her chest and her arms around him.
“I could stay like this forever,” he murmured, pressing the backs of her fingers to his lips. Then he tilted his head. “Kiss me?”
She did, and somehow he managed to shift and get a better angle to kiss her back. When his tongue touched hers he was taken back to the afternoons they’d made love and he felt his jeans grow tight. He slipped his free hand beneath her shirt to feel her skin. It was terrifying how much he needed Rose and the generous comfort of her body and her love.
Rose’s fingers were in his hair and beneath his own shirt, her caresses delicious. He so wanted to make love to her to reassure her. What she’d done for Lucy was wonderful, and he loved her even more for the fact that she had been completely open and honest with him that afternoon. He hadn’t thought so at first, but then he had realised that she was right. Lucy couldn’t possibly be forced to do something she didn’t want to, and her reaction when she’d
seen him and Paul that afternoon had spoken volumes. This was not the reaction of someone who felt at home with the birth father she’d only met a short while before.
“I love you, Rose,” he whispered.
“Dave?” Rose said, breaking the kiss. She looked pointedly in the direction of the bedrooms. When his gaze followed hers, he saw Evie standing there, wide-eyed and clutching her doll Amy.
“Dad?” she asked sleepily. She wasn’t wearing her glasses, but she wasn’t blind without them. She had seen him and Rose. There was no doubt about it.
“Aye, sweetheart?” he asked, sitting up.
“I can’t sleep.”
“Do you want a cuddle?” he asked, shifting away from Rose a little.
“You’re cuddling with Rose,” Evie pointed out.
He sighed.
“I think your Dad wants a cuddle with you more than with me,” Rose said, sitting up and straightening her clothes. Dave’s eyes went wide at her words.
“Can I have a story too?” Evie asked.
“Sure,” Dave said, regaining the power of speech.
With a satisfied nod and an adorable smile Evie padded to her own bed which she’d never used.
“You go ahead,” Rose whispered, stretching to steal a kiss from him. “I’ll wait.”
By the time he returned to the lounge, Rose had fallen asleep. He spread a blanket over her and sat with her leaning into him. “Good night, my love.”
Chapter 35
Dave made coffee and took it down to the infirmary for Dominic and Frankie. He still couldn’t believe that it was only the two of them who took turns watching Paul, and making them coffee was the only thing he could do to show them how much he appreciated their help. Frankie was by herself in the small staff room, and her face lit up as she saw him standing in the doorway, rapping his knuckles on the open glass door. They did have a fancy Italian coffee maker, but she waved him inside and accepted the stainless steel thermos flask he had brought.
“Thank you, Dave,” she said, getting a mug from the cupboard. When she asked him if he wanted some too, he declined. If there was any chance of him catching a few hours of sleep it was now. Paul was doing very well, all things considered. So far, he had kept his dinner down; he seemed to have perked up since Lucy’s arrival. “I’ve checked on them a couple of minutes ago,” she informed him, gesturing at the screen mounted on the wall that monitored his vital signs. The green line spiked regularly with his calm heartbeat, and numbers informed the onlooker of other readings. “He’s fallen asleep, but Lucy won’t move from his side.”
“They’re close,” Dave said. Then he changed his mind. “I’ll send her to bed and stay here myself.”
“No,” Frankie said, sipping her coffee. “Oh, this is good.”
“What?”
“The coffee. It’s fantastic.”
“No, I mean… Lucy should get some sleep,” Dave explained. “I’ll sit with him.”
“I doubt she’ll allow that. Plus, Dominic told me that if he found you sitting up with Paul when he comes on duty again, he’ll personally strap you to a bed and inject you with Aphisalian moon bloom.”
“With what?”
“The strongest soporific that we can possibly administer to humans without causing permanent damage,” she explained, her tone perfectly conversational. “Although… I’d quite like to see you strapped to a bed.”
Dave gaped.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to… my gob. It’s inexcusable.”
“It’s not that,” Dave said. “You’d really do that, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes. Miss Tyler would probably approve of it too. You are asleep on your feet, Dave. Go to bed. I promise we’ll let you know if anything happens.”
He was very reluctant to leave. He couldn’t possibly leave his daughter in charge of the night watch. But he also knew that Frankie was right. He was ready to drop. “Let me just check if she needs anything.”
Frankie smiled and he knew she was indulging him. It was more than likely that Lucy had sent her away several times by now, telling her that she didn’t need anything. “If you’re still here in five minutes’ time, I’ll get that Aphisalian moon bloom.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
When he slid the door to Paul’s room open he winced briefly. In the still of the night the very soft hiss of the door sounded surprisingly loud, and, alerted by the noise, Lucy turned around in the chair by Paul’s bedside. The copy of The Philosopher’s Stone was in her lap, open to the random page where he’d tucked the magazine clipping and Rose’s business card. She held it up when he joined her.
“I’d wondered about that,” Dave said. “I thought Rose had given it to me by mistake.”
“At the thing,” Lucy said, smoothing her fingers over the clipping.
“After,” he said, sitting gingerly on the edge of the bed so as not to jostle Paul. “Rose offered me a job. The Heritage Trust Fund needs some good photos. But this is her Torchwood card.” He plucked it from between her fingers.
“She gave it to me,” Lucy explained softly. “Are you mad at me, Dad?”
“No. No, I’m not,” he said, his heart breaking a little. “Just very scared. I wish I could have been there for you after… what happened in the park.”
“I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
“I suppose it’s fine now.”
She sighed and took the business card back. “The Sheeryan seemed very shocked that I’d seen them.”
“Of course they would. We’re not supposed to know about them.”
“They will help Paul, though, won’t they?”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
He reached out to straighten the sheets. Paul was deeply asleep, and his cheeks were tinted pink by sleep.
“Will you be all right by yourself?” he asked, reluctant once more to leave her alone.
“I’m not alone,” Lucy pointed out, glancing at Frankie standing just inside the door. One of her hands was buried in the pocket of her trousers, and Dave had no doubt that it held the phial containing the moon bloom.
“No, you’re not. I’m afraid she’ll make me sleep if I don’t leave soon,” he said, managing a smile.
“I’m fine, Dad. Really.”
He stood and bent to kiss her forehead. “I know. Good night, Lucy. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Good night, Dad.”
He left the room, following Frankie’s invitation as she gestured for him to precede her into the hall. “You weren’t kidding, were you?” he asked, looking pointedly at the hand in her pocket.
“Nope,” she said, producing the phial.
“Right.” He nodded at her and turned on his heel to head for the lift. “Good night, Frankie.”
“Nightie-night.”
-:-
Rose was still asleep on the sofa when he returned from the infirmary. She looked beautiful in the sunset-like light of the lounge and he couldn’t resist her. He’d delete the photo if she didn’t like it — he had taken it without her permission. He found the small camera he kept in his coat pocket and took her photo. Her hair came out a rich honey hue, and the soft glow let her skin look impossibly soft and made him want to run his tongue along her jaw and down her neck to taste her.
Dave blinked.
This was hardly the right setting to be having such thoughts but the truth was that he missed her, and he both wanted and needed her badly. He wasn’t sure he’d have gotten through all this if it wasn’t for her support which she so willingly offered despite his reluctance.
She was a miracle, his Rose. She understood the choices he had to make; and what he liked best was that she didn’t accept all of them, that she had the courage to tell him that he was wrong and the wisdom not to impose her opinion, or her will, on him. For that, he loved her. Above all, she understood about the bairns, and she understood them as well. She treated each of them as a person in their own right, without the patronising attitude he’d seen so often from other adults.
She must be a wonderful big sister.
The floorboards creaked softly when he entered the bedroom that was, theoretically at least, his. Evie was in her own bed, so only Ewan lay sprawled across the bed hugging a pillow to himself the way he used to sleep with a teddy. He’d long since given it up, deciding he’d outgrown it. Dave smiled. This night, he’d make the bed his.
Bigger on the inside: Space, Time Travel, Alien Criminals (A Space Time Travel Mystery Book 1) Page 38